tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39388107251730559132017-08-04T11:51:33.213-07:00In and as LifeUpma Pantnoreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-91572458866595505732017-01-02T06:55:00.001-08:002017-01-02T06:58:39.229-08:00Whats Wrong With New Year Resolutions?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Year round up done. So next is what? The sort of mandatory New Year resolution? Really? Are they like, must? Well they are a significant part of the whole New Year thing. A dedicated fitness regime, weight loss, reading more, quit smoking, drinking lesser (insane), reading to some figure, and blah blah blah. The list seems never ending and reads some of the popular choices but what stayed with me with one complete year once was a rarely heard resolution in which I pledged to keep in touch with my friends more frequently and I really did. Over the years I had become one person who lived in a bubble but did burst open with a New Year resolution once and that’s the only time I did it. Otherwise it had always been one futile exercise only meant to have one and share when asked, ‘What’s your New Year Resolution?’<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So a New Year resolution cacoethes which even I would adhere to some years back doesn’t cross my mind now. In fact have to struggle excruciatingly hard to figure out one which would stay strong the entire year. It is not that I have achieved it all and don’t have anything to conquer but just that it is difficult to figure out that one thing which could be the driving force for an entire year. A year looks like a decade now. Well! Do I sound like an oldie? I don’t know but life has been so unpredictable and full of dynamic situations every single day that somehow I have given up on long term planning and goals. During the final months of the year gone by I have been engaged with one month plans and resolutions which worked pretty well with me and I am going to bring that down to even smaller denominations this year. Smaller goals I realized have higher success rates. At least that’s what I have experienced. It keeps you on the edge, focused and creates the right amount of stress taking out the best in you. But keeping up with the old school of having one resolution for an entire year which most of us fail to keep, here’s why I think it happens:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">As I said, a year is way too long a time to stick on to one particular resolution. We might start working on it enthusiastically but soon procrastination seeps in and because the journey is too long, there’s always another day.</span></li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Life changes too fast and every day present us with new set of challenges. One resolution which might be appealing enough on the first day of the year may lose its charm or applicability very soon. And the resolution dies its own death.</span></li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">For success fuels inspiration, a failed resolution never drives to work hard the next year. I feel a short term resolution is much more achievable because the time is less and therefore calls for harder work. Whether we succeed or fail, the next target is right there and there is a defined time to achieve it.</span></li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So let the heart pumping up and get set to achieve more and more resolutions. So for me it will be a year of even shorter goals and resolutions. To start with, finishing off the current book I am reading in next 48 hours and posting a review is my first target. This is what sits on my lap right now and for the past few days, I have not been able to move much ahead, so decided to place it on the target and fire my first round for the year 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qHsNo-MUchM/WGppdis6guI/AAAAAAAADdA/cZHImVT17oo0Gd62TcuounxazDXrn9pWACLcB/s1600/if%2Bon%2Ba%2Bwinter%2527s%2Bnight%2Ba%2Btraveller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qHsNo-MUchM/WGppdis6guI/AAAAAAAADdA/cZHImVT17oo0Gd62TcuounxazDXrn9pWACLcB/s320/if%2Bon%2Ba%2Bwinter%2527s%2Bnight%2Ba%2Btraveller.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But yes, don’t want to give away the yearly resolution altogether and I pledge to write every single day in some form or the other this year. And my time starts now …. tick tock tick tock<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-33901961756740368592016-12-31T06:52:00.003-08:002016-12-31T08:49:53.547-08:00The Year That It Was. Uff! Pretty Too Much.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Another year sets in and as it gives way to the newness in life, the illusion created over the years, in fact ever since we knew works well even today. While every new day is a beginning, the New Year thing has a defined charm attached to it, which refuses to fade away. What changes is the paradigm shift in our perspectives and aspirations. So without raising any further questions on the lineage of another upcoming year as I gaze on it from the sill of the soon slipping 2016, there’s a lot to brood about like always. Lessons learnt, drama unfolded, the parts we played, moments of sheer joy, pride, ecstasy and yes of course despair. My year going by holds bag of mixed emotions and madness like every year. I feel I am getting off a roller coaster ride which was fun to start with but very soon turned into the most terrible experience ever but culminating with a terrific swing. The blast of mix flavours in my mouth is still afresh and I can distinctively differentiate between them all. I shifted my anchor finding my strength within but at the same time found many new grounds to hook on, learn and lean on. Relating to the quotable quotes on life which define our present moment and emotional status is quite common on the social media platforms. We throw our life bare open like a book which we used to preserve earlier. Dawdling over our moments of despair and helplessness, philosophy becomes an easy subject to approach. But much easier said than done, their application is subject to Buddhahood whenever it strikes us all. And I had my share of sainthood too, preaching the wise words. It is so amazing. We grew up suppressing our deepest feeling and emotions but now we are so vocal about them and the popular sites keep providing us with more and more tools to express ourselves explicitly with a variety of emoticons. Although I never believed in connecting with someone in the virtual world but it happened this year and I lived a significant part of my year interacting with new friends, fellow artists online, competing with them and achieving a feat like NaNoWriMo.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The year started with a 12 week online workshop which was about unleashing our inner artist, an adaptation of this amazing book by Julia Cameron, ‘The Artist’s Way of Life’. This was one of the major events of this year which has not been talked about here. A lot of goodness came my way while being part of this amazing workshop where I connected with many fellow artists from different genres of artwork. We undertook this incredible journey of 12 weeks which spilled over to 16 weeks and we rediscovered the lost self as potent creators. Following the instructions of the author, we went through grilling session of numerous exercises and tasks but personally what did the magic was the concept of ‘morning pages’ which made us write at least 3 pages everyday like a journal. I have been a on and off diarist since my childhood but sitting down consistently to scribble 3 pages every single day was too much in the beginning. I felt blocked almost every day but slowly the spirit started flowing on those morning pages. It helped in many ways but the most effective part was the way it helped in declutter of thoughts. It effectively rested the chattering of mind. The changes were quite significant and another part which I completely loved was the idea of artist dates where I explored my interest in other forms of art work other than writing. And of course this workshop helped me connect with artists cross the globe. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But as soon as I flagged in after the workshop and also somewhere in between, life kept acting nasty and finally threw me into one of the most treacherous and tumultuous phases. It was almost life shattering. A little too personal to be shared here but it threw my life completely out of gear and I landed up on that chair from ‘Dear Zindagi’. There were days devoid of any joy. Life was filled with darkness, despair, loneliness and constant sadness. Losing someone dear in life can be painful but have you ever lost yourself amidst the wrecking of a personal loss? If you have, you will relate to it. It is as if you lose the very purpose of your life. I think as humans, leaning on to our loved ones comes naturally to us … at least to me it does and in the process I forget myself and make the other person the centre of my world, in fact all my world. But tonight I don’t want to write the saddest lines. In fact I want to rejoice at where the wave of this emotional tsunami has brought me … where I just want to bask in the glory of this newness in life and be grateful to the universe for shaking me up from a false dream. Life henceforth won’t be just about moving on but it has to get better and better every single day, every single moment. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And yes this is what I have been trying to stick on. Pulling myself up, making myself face new challenges, chasing them and winning. And the journey for past 4 months has been incredible and really exciting. I have spoken about them enough here. Like my successful blogathon, annual half marathon and of course my NaNoWriMo win. But apart from this I have quit the job which was not appealing me enough. One fine day I just got up with that feeling, ‘What are you doing? Why are you wasting your time and effort on something which you are not enjoying?’ and I called it quits with my job as a content writer and have started a journey which is at a nascent stage to share with you all but will do so as soon as I progress with it. The culminating days of this year have been a blast and I want to kiss the New Year with its passing energy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was a blogging prompt very recently which asked us to write about our most unpredictable life defining moment and I was even tempted to write but couldn’t find one. Once in school days I won the title of ‘The best sports girl of the year’ and that stays till date as the most unpredictable moment as I wasn’t expecting it that year but was of course not life defining.&nbsp; Life has been a dreamy affair for me and about chasing them hard. Making every moment an unpredictable moment and I wish to continue doing that. I want to stay that incorrigible dreamer and a potent creator. So yes! Cheers to life and the New Year and a new me. Also wishing you all a very Happy and blessed New Year. Stay blessed… Stay Happy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hVqc9Ex007g/WGfEVVXZi_I/AAAAAAAADco/mq40AQC9EcwLmqA6kisO38TdgUHmBl6NACLcB/s1600/funny-new-year-wishes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hVqc9Ex007g/WGfEVVXZi_I/AAAAAAAADco/mq40AQC9EcwLmqA6kisO38TdgUHmBl6NACLcB/s400/funny-new-year-wishes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-62528587995972745472016-12-06T23:19:00.002-08:002016-12-06T23:27:12.082-08:00Wordless Wednesday - 14<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is Wednesday once again and getting back to the prompting pictures. What do you think about this? Does it prompt you enough to say something?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TqVKay5Qmgs/WEe2yHdcgkI/AAAAAAAADbw/q-vzR4HA0y0DP5EpPgQm5UnHFxIzT62FwCLcB/s1600/new%2Byr%2B2011%2B094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TqVKay5Qmgs/WEe2yHdcgkI/AAAAAAAADbw/q-vzR4HA0y0DP5EpPgQm5UnHFxIzT62FwCLcB/s640/new%2Byr%2B2011%2B094.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the previous prompt&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3ydBnUl1YTc/WCMe6i7Vx4I/AAAAAAAADZY/gdvGKX63VBIQ_n5QSil7w0S9qL6WRQChQCPcB/s1600/IMG_8498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3ydBnUl1YTc/WCMe6i7Vx4I/AAAAAAAADZY/gdvGKX63VBIQ_n5QSil7w0S9qL6WRQChQCPcB/s320/IMG_8498.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;">They said&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Parul : Parda hai parda</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Indrani : The significant you and insignificant me</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Riya : Don't just stand and stare ... summon forth your inner Budha.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thanks for the participation.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-64941219735627105822016-12-05T04:49:00.002-08:002016-12-05T04:49:44.615-08:00To The Month That It Was - November.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Racing through the blog marathon in the month of October this year, I actually got addicted to putting up a post every single day on my turf here but then came November, the month of National Novel Writing and I plunged into it without any preparation, strategy and know how. All I knew was that I have to keep hitting the keys around a single story (Ideally) which I thought could be driven into forming a novel. Although I knew about the concept earlier but 50K in a single month always appeared an audacious target to be taken up as a challenge. As the NaNoWriMo prompt kept flashing in front of me, I dismissed it like previous years. But on 31<sup>st</sup> Oct, there I was on the NaNoWriMo official site registering for my debut novel to be dished out in its first draft. I was there because of motivation and pushing from my friends in the virtual space but I am so glad I listened to them and made a start somewhere. Otherwise I had become a champion in procrastination. I started this blog four years ago but since then haven’t been able to take the next big step beyond this portal. I have been sleeping with the story ideas but never visited them in the broad daylight. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So this past one month which had put blogging again to a back seat had been quite an eventful one and once again while life kept throwing lemons, I churned out lip smacking lemonade. I was travelling, was on vacations with my kids, nursing them as they both went down with Typhoid, training for my annual half marathon and yes writing for NaNoWriMo.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To begin with, the Half Marathon (ADHM 2016) was a terrific experience like last year. When I tell people that I am running a half marathon, the immediate response after that big, ‘WOW’ is ‘What’s your timing?’ Running marathons has become such a people’s event that in big cities it is one of the most trending things and a competitive affair too but for me it is still another way of pushing myself beyond my limits. I am not a great runner but my endeavour is to train my body and mind in such a way that not only I finish comfortably without any injury but also recover fast. So this time I could achieve both my aims. Even my timings could have been better had I not got bogged down with knee and back pain but as I always say, ‘Every finish deserves a celebration.’ Here’s sharing my happiness after the touchdown and for my kids, they still think that the medal was for some ranking in the run because medal for a mere finish is beyond their perception. But yeah, the feeling is enormous and synonymous to a win.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r6ecZ7FrBfo/WEVgchC_PTI/AAAAAAAADbQ/WwyAaujAHGAwe2tXcgTDvHCuLLEmJX5UACLcB/s1600/15036595_10211570807844747_5139238633536697190_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r6ecZ7FrBfo/WEVgchC_PTI/AAAAAAAADbQ/WwyAaujAHGAwe2tXcgTDvHCuLLEmJX5UACLcB/s1600/15036595_10211570807844747_5139238633536697190_n.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And all this while, the keying was lacking behind, but then suddenly the Indian WriMos group was bombarded by an early finish. As the novel can be validated anytime after 20<sup>th</sup> of November, the winning certificates starting pouring in and that is when the tempo actually picked up. The tapping became harder, the recorded WC(Word Count) per hour per day kept soaring high each day. The word sprints we did at the Indian WriMo group were amazing. Trying but pushing us closer to our win every day. Every single word counted and just when I thought that the finish is near and the target achievable, pop came up the challenge of kids falling ill and that too both of them together. With me playing the role of a single mom, the writing pace was thrown out of gear and when I rejoined the race, the average WC of 4-5K/day glared back mockingly right on my face. But then being so close to the finish, giving up would have been really meek. The final push came with pulling 10K in two days, finishing the mark of 50K a day prior. Yes! I became a NaNoWriMo winner in my first attempt and this month of non-stop writing left me in a mixed emotions ranging from an exhaustive mental state to that of pure ecstasy. With reddened eyes (strained and overwhelmed) when I looked at my winner certificate, I was stunned. I could not believe that I actually did it. Sharing another proud moment from the month.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yvey2mwhc9o/WEVf-vUQaPI/AAAAAAAADbM/YQyqb14h1EQ5__-R0skzgprbY3pmBTI9gCLcB/s1600/Winner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yvey2mwhc9o/WEVf-vUQaPI/AAAAAAAADbM/YQyqb14h1EQ5__-R0skzgprbY3pmBTI9gCLcB/s320/Winner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Life is all about pushing yourself to bring out the best in you. When you actually achieve the feat, it makes you realize how far you have reached fueling your dream and that impossible is nothing. You can either buckle down under pressure or outshine yourself. The choice is entirely yours. Stop brooding over why you can’t achieve what you dare. Instead give it all of you to win that smile. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">KEEP DARING<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My new mantra and the New Year resolution too. Be the CEO of your life and live it not just less ordinary but extraordinary.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-23794858167418368832016-11-12T11:46:00.000-08:002016-11-12T11:46:13.346-08:00An Evening Full of Love<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An evening full of music, doodle art and of course love. Presenting my labour of love this evening. Hope you all like it.&nbsp;</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Love at various stages</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oGuZFfvM5Qw/WCdvuPqBDcI/AAAAAAAADZo/Tm5mRueMDt8MzJPrjXX3mR2rN2owG-NHACLcB/s1600/20161112_165400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oGuZFfvM5Qw/WCdvuPqBDcI/AAAAAAAADZo/Tm5mRueMDt8MzJPrjXX3mR2rN2owG-NHACLcB/s320/20161112_165400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DHbp9oN950g/WCdvtfGPHKI/AAAAAAAADZk/zDnCSrclSyU8TIBa3GQjpZZjKoc510Q6QCEw/s1600/20161112_165852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DHbp9oN950g/WCdvtfGPHKI/AAAAAAAADZk/zDnCSrclSyU8TIBa3GQjpZZjKoc510Q6QCEw/s320/20161112_165852.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-McaoW0qV5Cg/WCdvuD-N8sI/AAAAAAAADZs/94LMYTbKxPQ_81LVFtvLu7fjb-yavUacACEw/s1600/20161112_223852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-McaoW0qV5Cg/WCdvuD-N8sI/AAAAAAAADZs/94LMYTbKxPQ_81LVFtvLu7fjb-yavUacACEw/s320/20161112_223852.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dcmDSIDe6lg/WCdvu2BeOFI/AAAAAAAADZw/Q8asM9OoRoA4cvnBmJYRUD3Ija9zQcUigCEw/s1600/20161113_004355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dcmDSIDe6lg/WCdvu2BeOFI/AAAAAAAADZw/Q8asM9OoRoA4cvnBmJYRUD3Ija9zQcUigCEw/s320/20161113_004355.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And finally,</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0kAvVqBbNDM/WCdxTJKwEAI/AAAAAAAADaM/NpogTQ_sz9A6lzGF-CJoomlQbW2kJuRxgCLcB/s1600/20161113_010000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0kAvVqBbNDM/WCdxTJKwEAI/AAAAAAAADaM/NpogTQ_sz9A6lzGF-CJoomlQbW2kJuRxgCLcB/s400/20161113_010000.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Please drop in words of appreciation if you like it.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-90460933213265659492016-11-09T05:08:00.001-08:002016-11-09T05:08:14.781-08:00Wordless Wednesday - 13<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bring it on. Some captions and titles for this photo prompt.</span><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3ydBnUl1YTc/WCMe6i7Vx4I/AAAAAAAADZU/aSG6sCjZ2QgX_VWi_Xrn6Nq7WyjqiZkKQCLcB/s1600/IMG_8498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3ydBnUl1YTc/WCMe6i7Vx4I/AAAAAAAADZU/aSG6sCjZ2QgX_VWi_Xrn6Nq7WyjqiZkKQCLcB/s640/IMG_8498.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And this is what you all said on last week's photo prompt.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AVqE6GgtJXw/WBtUHuJ0A8I/AAAAAAAADYc/TmrjDAll-roAJkUNvknR5UX-evMcZWFiACPcB/s1600/IMG_8472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AVqE6GgtJXw/WBtUHuJ0A8I/AAAAAAAADYc/TmrjDAll-roAJkUNvknR5UX-evMcZWFiACPcB/s320/IMG_8472.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Smita: Rock on !</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Durga Prasad Dash : My house is made of rocks. But my heart is not so.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thanks a lot for your love.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-1674238594981253822016-11-06T23:48:00.001-08:002016-11-07T02:22:24.992-08:00Dear Zindagi.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear Zindagi,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We have been playing this love hate game fairly well I would say and I want to thank you for being with me as you are without any regrets. (I know I will be cursing you again when the tide is high and swim madly when things are fine. Ha Ha Ha but that’s the way it has always been and you know it too). The rules of the game are quite simple now. Churn out lip smacking lemonade when you throw lemons and laugh it loud when the days are all pink. I express my gratitude for all.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I feel blessed, you made me a dreamer. I dream, I weave stories for myself and my world around. I feel special in this way which makes me have a magic wand in my hand with which I create my own world. But there were times I felt my wand is lost. This was when my own happiness was governed by others around. When I felt that my world is shattered, you made me realize that my magic wand was not lost or stolen. You had made me an artist, a creator, but I chose to give away that power away to others who started painting my life in their own colours. Though you made me learn my lessons a tougher way, I am glad you did, before I lost myself completely to the tunes unknown to me. It seemed easier to lose myself to the tunes of the Pied Piper and follow him. But when he disappeared I found myself in the middle of nowhere. The journey back had to be made on my own and rebuilding my universe was the toughest task but it had to be done. Life is precious and can’t be wasted come what may. Now that I am learning to paint the canvas afresh, I know the painting will be marvelous with most vibrant colours. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1Qz3sJGooVc/WCAxMRaCHPI/AAAAAAAADY8/MMlPUo4wQJQldFTTPhcu146taPl3NJsjACLcB/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1Qz3sJGooVc/WCAxMRaCHPI/AAAAAAAADY8/MMlPUo4wQJQldFTTPhcu146taPl3NJsjACLcB/s320/download.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I thank you for making me a fearless warrior who refuses to give up and continuously fights to walk on the self designed path. It has been a self learned and self made journey so far but it is time to express gratitude for giving me a world which could endure my rebelliousness. My journey to each milestone has been alone but I had cheerleaders at every victory of mine which kept me going. And you have been always there like a true companion. I have been called a defiant because I have always chosen the path less ordinary and refused to follow what the women ought to. I have challenged the rules and will continue to do so because they cannot be different for us. I know the journey has been tough but so be it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You have been tough, you have been sweet. I have hated you for all those tough times you served me but now I know that it’s because I can handle them. I cry, I feel broken down inside but then I gather up myself again because I know how precious you are and how important my dreams are to me. My tough times have made me stronger every time and I know am once again ready to take a flight and it will be the most beautiful one as I have never been stretched this far. Love you Zindagi. You have made me an incorrigible and hopeless romantic. I know it is my blessing. It helps me to stand up, fall in love with you again and again. This zest for life has helped me to move ahead towards a brighter light and it will be like this always. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ePL7qu9GMk8/WCAxMc06RpI/AAAAAAAADY4/HG5qONhojVg3LavT5ba9BCOd-oshPYMnwCEw/s1600/images%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ePL7qu9GMk8/WCAxMc06RpI/AAAAAAAADY4/HG5qONhojVg3LavT5ba9BCOd-oshPYMnwCEw/s320/images%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yours forever,<o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kiddo<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This post is in response to the Dear Zindagi activity at Blogadda.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot;, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"><br /></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot;, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">“I am writing a letter to life for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DkO7ksXY8E&amp;authuser=0" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><strong>#DearZindagi</strong>&nbsp;</a>activity at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.blogadda.com/" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">BlogAdda</a>".</em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot;, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"><br /></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot;, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">#DearZindagi</em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot;, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"><br /></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5DkO7ksXY8E/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5DkO7ksXY8E?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-51204382913985515712016-11-03T08:21:00.000-07:002016-11-03T08:21:09.200-07:00Wordless Wednesday - 12<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A picture speaks a thousand words. So what does this say? Inviting your words on this photo prompt.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AVqE6GgtJXw/WBtUHuJ0A8I/AAAAAAAADYU/tY9kjrNacAULcdzvo4dtnk7UDUBN5k5jwCLcB/s1600/IMG_8472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AVqE6GgtJXw/WBtUHuJ0A8I/AAAAAAAADYU/tY9kjrNacAULcdzvo4dtnk7UDUBN5k5jwCLcB/s640/IMG_8472.JPG" width="425" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On last week's photo prompt</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PI2dhn7whvs/WBtUyxeFElI/AAAAAAAADYY/oJ8tfna5UHstpQf2TGkJu0r5y_UAXbFjgCLcB/s1600/IMG_6640.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PI2dhn7whvs/WBtUyxeFElI/AAAAAAAADYY/oJ8tfna5UHstpQf2TGkJu0r5y_UAXbFjgCLcB/s320/IMG_6640.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is what you all said</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jyotirmoy Sarkar: Welcome dears</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mridu: Welcome to extinction!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Indrani: Go green is the mantra</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Parul: Gate keepers</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tanushree: Welcome to crocodilian merry land ...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thanks for all the love friends :)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-89073029780784734082016-10-31T10:01:00.001-07:002016-10-31T10:01:03.708-07:00Day 31. NaNoWriMo It Is.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yipee I did it. The month long blogathon comes to an end today only to lead me to another commitment. Yes friends, I have accepted another challenge and NaNoWriMo it is. Another month long writing challenge which is much bigger than doing a Blog Marathon. For those who don't know about NaNoWriMo, it is a writing challenge which is taken up in the month of November every year by the writers all over the world.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But before I speak about this challenge, I want to extend my heart felt gratitude to all my dedicated readers who showed up on my portal the entire month and helped me keep going. This year the blog marathon was a much better experience with more readers visiting the blog than last year. I hope I didn't disappoint you. I took care in crafting each blog post barring a few which couldn't come up that well due to unavoidable reasons as mentioned before. But overall it was an amazing month and I hope to bring up the Blog Marathon month figure to two next year. So cheers to that :)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So what's the NaNoWriMo challenge? You commit to write an entire novel in the month of November with word count of at least 50,000. You not only get the drive to finish an enormous writing task but also get connected with like minded writers from all over the world. For me the second one was more alluring. While I used to think about taking up this challenge every year, it never came into being. But I finally said 'Yes, let us do it!' because I enjoyed my blog marathon journey this time and wanted to continue my creative pursuit. I have connected with few writers online and believe me it is like a symphony when your soul finds solace in like minded people. And the joy doubles up when we are in the company of artists. So uniting with writers beyond the boundaries of country and race was in itself quite motivating. But still the credit goes to my writing group on Facebook and few members who were taking up the challenge. And quite interestingly our group there is called 'Kick my ass and make me create' so this is what I am going to do in the upcoming month. Kick my ass and write at least 1660 words per day to reach the audacious target of 50000 word count. So wish me luck friends. And keep visiting the pages here. Blog marathon is over but the blog will still be active. C ya friends.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-85022698608356948342016-10-30T10:52:00.002-07:002016-10-30T10:52:52.377-07:00Day 30. Mere Tumhare Sabke Liye Happy Diwali.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s Diwali today and I wish all my readers a very happy and auspicious one. May this Diwali fill your heart and life with inner light and wisdom.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ND8iy0U4hns/WBYxZYvhqUI/AAAAAAAADXI/PM6V7_8oo3kxLo2ogMcqdV6RB8q37trFwCLcB/s1600/images%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ND8iy0U4hns/WBYxZYvhqUI/AAAAAAAADXI/PM6V7_8oo3kxLo2ogMcqdV6RB8q37trFwCLcB/s1600/images%2B%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I kept thinking about a special post befitting the auspicious occasion but as the day progressed, time kept slipping out of my hands like dry sand. So in the evening as we got over with the auspicious Diwali celebrations at home, we went around the society to enjoy the brightly lit up society. Also on display was a wide array of colourful display in the form of rangoli which was beautiful and quite innovative also at places. I come from a fauji background and this was after a long time I was celebrating Diwali in a non fauji set up. Diwali is the most widely celebrated festival in India and rangoli like all important festivals is its significant part. Though this society culture is still new to me what impressed me was the efforts put by the residents in adding festive splendor to the common areas which can also be termed as the ‘No man’s land’. We all take efforts to decorate our homes and surrounding but not many take part in the collaborative efforts like these. So here is my 30<sup>th</sup> day post dedicated to those people, their art and most importantly their zest in spreading happiness around. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ugIyhVT6ns/WBYyoWBoGmI/AAAAAAAADXU/Od8fIBSfKK8TByjkXXMxOjTVpYY5MeuTACLcB/s1600/DSC_0261.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ugIyhVT6ns/WBYyoWBoGmI/AAAAAAAADXU/Od8fIBSfKK8TByjkXXMxOjTVpYY5MeuTACLcB/s320/DSC_0261.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SXiIjlWLhRQ/WBYyoXz99iI/AAAAAAAADXQ/LyXYGP6TNUMth7k8E9neu0TNgf37uvJ7ACLcB/s1600/DSC_0263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SXiIjlWLhRQ/WBYyoXz99iI/AAAAAAAADXQ/LyXYGP6TNUMth7k8E9neu0TNgf37uvJ7ACLcB/s320/DSC_0263.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aR794mXmmTw/WBYyp4ohCII/AAAAAAAADXY/kxk8BY-0wLYV39t_FLCd1xwKlafa8XkbACLcB/s1600/DSC_0264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aR794mXmmTw/WBYyp4ohCII/AAAAAAAADXY/kxk8BY-0wLYV39t_FLCd1xwKlafa8XkbACLcB/s320/DSC_0264.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iFAiMd2imq4/WBYytPG5ePI/AAAAAAAADXg/8uxjtMhYtJA3q1aA5AYpgqKjYVb_i_ELgCLcB/s1600/DSC_0267.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iFAiMd2imq4/WBYytPG5ePI/AAAAAAAADXg/8uxjtMhYtJA3q1aA5AYpgqKjYVb_i_ELgCLcB/s320/DSC_0267.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YUdyqLcVSEE/WBYysmqXlAI/AAAAAAAADXc/bSKuwKp-ViEwPU5hbManZqKu90SpXSPfACLcB/s1600/DSC_0271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YUdyqLcVSEE/WBYysmqXlAI/AAAAAAAADXc/bSKuwKp-ViEwPU5hbManZqKu90SpXSPfACLcB/s320/DSC_0271.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uDA7j81P-Iw/WBYyuEqPgYI/AAAAAAAADXk/lCUQr3Pk3kQEmaKx6SJASFZonCVA5_E1ACLcB/s1600/DSC_0273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uDA7j81P-Iw/WBYyuEqPgYI/AAAAAAAADXk/lCUQr3Pk3kQEmaKx6SJASFZonCVA5_E1ACLcB/s320/DSC_0273.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2fqzoCJrTbY/WBYyvcXDepI/AAAAAAAADXo/vZc6krj9uN4jXRtxKoQlbRUU5lGQ0dcjQCLcB/s1600/DSC_0274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2fqzoCJrTbY/WBYyvcXDepI/AAAAAAAADXo/vZc6krj9uN4jXRtxKoQlbRUU5lGQ0dcjQCLcB/s320/DSC_0274.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SI54_g2d0NI/WBYywU1HLZI/AAAAAAAADXs/nwcovN1xiN4Wk8ZSer9k7ZAJe0EamxJhwCLcB/s1600/DSC_0276.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SI54_g2d0NI/WBYywU1HLZI/AAAAAAAADXs/nwcovN1xiN4Wk8ZSer9k7ZAJe0EamxJhwCLcB/s320/DSC_0276.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">&nbsp;And this one I loved, the geeky light arrangement :)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i_MJKMuru5E/WBYymw3CSnI/AAAAAAAADXM/pUJw7vylB1E0IiDz36FflspUpmYJl4AWgCEw/s1600/DSC_0262.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i_MJKMuru5E/WBYymw3CSnI/AAAAAAAADXM/pUJw7vylB1E0IiDz36FflspUpmYJl4AWgCEw/s320/DSC_0262.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hope you all also had an amazing day today. C ya tomorrow on the last day of the Blog Marathon.</span></span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-37940072888075291332016-10-29T09:00:00.000-07:002016-10-29T09:00:58.101-07:00Day 29. Popular Comics Shop - Part II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Catch up with the first part of the story <a href="http://oops-om.blogspot.in/2016/10/day-28-popular-comics-shop-part-i.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qZ7KPmnUN4s/WBOFdNyTRjI/AAAAAAAADW4/MOcRoCgE3WcuE3fqEQm0OPT5jTZFypODwCPcB/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qZ7KPmnUN4s/WBOFdNyTRjI/AAAAAAAADW4/MOcRoCgE3WcuE3fqEQm0OPT5jTZFypODwCPcB/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">“What is happening here?” One of them shouted without even giving reaction time to the boys and moved ahead to twist the ears of Rishi.&nbsp;The other one had also held Sameer by then. The curious eyes around turned wider with astonishment due to the recent development. Harsh knew what went behind the scenes for his friends to receive this treatment. The boys had not taken permission from their parents for their maiden venture. But the three of them were not prepared for this reaction. At least not so soon. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">“What is happening here? What are we listening? You are taking money from your friends to share your books?” Sameer’s father took turn holding him by his collar. The crowd sensed the impending danger and started sneaking away. Some took along for what they paid while others quietly kept it back. They gave a look to the raided boys conveying that we will settle our scores later. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Sorry papa.” Sameer blurted out the safest answer. But even that could not pacify the agitated parents. The idea of renting out books to their own friends was far beyond any explanation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">“What sorry? Have you bought the books from your own money?” Rishi’s father spoke twisting his ears harder. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Harsh didn’t want to face the wrath from his friend’s parents so he also moved away quietly leaving Sameer and Rishi. As he struck out of his gang, the wind gained a sudden momentum which shook one of the poles collapsing the flagging comics. A tear rolled down Sameer’s eye but he quickly wiped it away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Come home and I will teach you what it is like being a businessman.” Rishi’s father dragged him to their house. Sameer and his father also moved out of the scene as the dust storm gained speed and got accompanied with thin droplets. The white bed sheet and left books fluttered in the strong winds washing away the dreams of the young entrepreneurs.</span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-27152964387881930922016-10-28T09:59:00.004-07:002016-10-28T10:06:05.663-07:00Day 28. Popular Comics Shop - Part I.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qZ7KPmnUN4s/WBOFdNyTRjI/AAAAAAAADWw/6-DmOuDKayo1TIfjR0VcK4-c-KFBuVeawCLcB/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qZ7KPmnUN4s/WBOFdNyTRjI/AAAAAAAADWw/6-DmOuDKayo1TIfjR0VcK4-c-KFBuVeawCLcB/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">On a rustic summer evening when the children were still contained in their refuges, the trio was busy transfusing life to their dream project, ‘Popular Comics Shop’. Summer vacations had just started and it enraged the ‘Rajpura Colony’ with the increased chaos in houses due to its young inmates. Mothers yelling on top of their voices, siblings bickering, the loud animated sound of cartoon channels shrieking through the closed window corners, the day came alive in parts. The hustle bustle of the ‘Rajpura Colony’ during these months faded off as the days sobered down by the end of it. The central park of the colony was outlined by single row of houses on all its four sides. Mornings and evenings wore the same swollen up look in the park. There were the usual morning walking club types, who showed up religiously 365 days and then there were these free souls uprooted temporarily from their morning anchor. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The blazing sun was trying to hit frivolously on the lamenting souls peeking occasionally through the dense clouds and the sky was groggy with a muddy demeanor. It felt dull and lifeless impregnating lethargy even down below. A sand storm might hit before it starts pouring. At least it will bring some respite from the raging temperatures. Sameer, stood in his usual grey shorts complimented with a bright yellow round neck T-Shirt and black loafers, examining the makeshift stall from a distance. Something was amiss. It didn’t appeal him much despite of their fastidious efforts since morning. The shop has to appeal to bring in business. The books collected from the three houses were neatly laid out on a wooden table covered with a plain white table cloth. The shop looked alluring with pierced inverted books on a thin rope flagged over the book stall, secured by the two wooden poles. The structure where the books were placed was assembled together employing spare furniture from Rishi’s backyard. The table was topped with a wooden bench resting in a metallic frame. The overall arrangement was sheathed in a flawless white bed sheet, pinned on edges and embellished with latest editions of the popular children books, comics. The idea of having a comic’s book rent shop was conceived to make some extra pocket money and invest it into buying the latest comics. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">As the day progressed, the brand new shop started alluring its curious probable customers even before the entire stock was laid out. The hovering wide eyed children checked out the latest edition of their favourite comics characters. While some of them placed hands on their pick and reserved it, there were others who ran home to get money for their indulgence. And soon the word about the comics shop spread like a wild fire in the Rajpura colony and excited kids were seen rubbing against each other’s shoulders to pick the book of their choice. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The proud owners of the stall, Sameer, Rishi and Harsh were now having a tough time attending to their customer turned peers. The rates were reasonable. One book for ten rupees and that too for three days! The deal was good. Money started pouring in the tin money box and it certainly lifted up the spirits of the trio. The hustle bustle next to the grocery shop gained attention of the passing by people who tried to pierce through the thick blanket of kids who were still waiting for their turn. There were only few books left when the stall was approached by some unwanted visitors. They had a furious look on their faces which was accentuated by the raised brows and they tore through the crowd to face the much in demand trio. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">“What is happening here?” One of them shouted without even giving reaction time and moved ahead to twist the ears of Rishi.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 166.5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-64826567722844391752016-10-27T09:16:00.002-07:002016-10-27T09:16:43.481-07:00Day 27. Lets go vroom ....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yes, we went vroom today starting our Diwali break. A ten day long break which started with a long long drive from Pathankot to Delhi and driving was such an incredible experience with excellent road and route full of some amazing food joints. Travelling by road comes almost naturally to us faujis and is always the first choice as far as I am concerned. Whether going on posting or chutti, driving down to our destinations is something we love. And for my kids, its now in their blood as they have been dragged into it by their fauji parents ever since they were lap babies. Well this is me and my babies.</span></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fbP2qBC9BQM/WBIKRYE83HI/AAAAAAAADV0/C0nSd1e-aa0WJvIFIvVqfrQR14rEtYmWQCLcB/s1600/20161026_191817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fbP2qBC9BQM/WBIKRYE83HI/AAAAAAAADV0/C0nSd1e-aa0WJvIFIvVqfrQR14rEtYmWQCLcB/s320/20161026_191817.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today's drive was comparatively shorter with just around 500kms but the excitement was no less. Well good food is obvious when we talk about land of Punjab and Haryana but even our Uncle Mc Donalds is also such a welcome change whenever we hit out of Pathankot as we don't one here. So eating en route to Delhi, which is a frequent affair with us, is always a mix of Junk and finger licking Indian spread. While the entire route has both International food chains and desi brands, our stops are generally fixed depending upon the distance. So even today our first stop was Dasuya food and fuel terminal which is 55kms from Pathankot and our first Mc Donalds stopover. This place also serves the options of Subway and Cafe Coffee Day. Mc Donalds is our kids favourite food destination because of the happy meal combo and even I don't mind them indulging as they prove to be the sturdiest of their entire toy lot. &nbsp;Mc Donalds... I'm Loving it :) and today's toy was cool.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5VSJ6v82wg4/WBIf19C0xKI/AAAAAAAADWU/2D_0vaW9SWYtoodxwsN5nM8ia71C9N7TACLcB/s1600/20161027_113754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5VSJ6v82wg4/WBIf19C0xKI/AAAAAAAADWU/2D_0vaW9SWYtoodxwsN5nM8ia71C9N7TACLcB/s320/20161027_113754.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I'm Loving It</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nQINJpFfQ1o/WBIKLmtS-nI/AAAAAAAADWE/y7K6OeFV5yMYQEF60HP1VJszPSajUEuxACPcB/s1600/20161027_114006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nQINJpFfQ1o/WBIKLmtS-nI/AAAAAAAADWE/y7K6OeFV5yMYQEF60HP1VJszPSajUEuxACPcB/s320/20161027_114006.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Mom Son Duo Posing With Happy Meal Toys</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The second stop was the Rajpura Miles mall which offers the a wide range of factory outlet options also along with food options of Mc Donalds, KFC, Subway, Dominos and the famous Rajpura Haveli which is a local chain of multi cuisine eating joint.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wmgnum-vt4I/WBIKTOjhxGI/AAAAAAAADWM/QMMpGog7UcUfvfNMRJlaGCI2VKuJTb1jwCPcB/s1600/20161027_114158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wmgnum-vt4I/WBIKTOjhxGI/AAAAAAAADWM/QMMpGog7UcUfvfNMRJlaGCI2VKuJTb1jwCPcB/s320/20161027_114158.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Does It Double Up The Fun Too?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the last one was the Haldiram food joint before we hit Delhi outskirts. Our menu here used to have one fixed closing order every time, pipping hot desi ghee Jalebis. But we were quite disappointed today as our favourite jalebis have been scraped off from the menu :(&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-43z0EsyXJ8c/WBIKWbWtZYI/AAAAAAAADWM/5PReQ8b5U1gtrwZ2yekP7yvhom_4NjhXwCPcB/s1600/20161027_141437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-43z0EsyXJ8c/WBIKWbWtZYI/AAAAAAAADWM/5PReQ8b5U1gtrwZ2yekP7yvhom_4NjhXwCPcB/s320/20161027_141437.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Food Here is Gooood&nbsp;</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After this break we soon entered the strolling and maddening Delhi traffic. The frustration&nbsp;was toned down with the FM tunes which is one thing we look forward to whenever we move out of Pathankot and reach some place where FM channels are active. The rest of journey till Noida was spent tossing and dodging the traffic blues. Here are some more clicks from the day.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R3Uxc4QB3js/WBIKPntA8VI/AAAAAAAADWE/ekQg_9npQe4wn6rLXZQD-F478GKH0EQbACPcB/s1600/20161027_115226.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R3Uxc4QB3js/WBIKPntA8VI/AAAAAAAADWE/ekQg_9npQe4wn6rLXZQD-F478GKH0EQbACPcB/s320/20161027_115226.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Lady Chauffeur With Her Geeky Passengers</span>&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z5wxHCZ5Auk/WBIKLCyUNtI/AAAAAAAADWE/ZFrJXacqJ5gcMloDrEeKtYcCOKIdpeijQCPcB/s1600/20161027_113816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z5wxHCZ5Auk/WBIKLCyUNtI/AAAAAAAADWE/ZFrJXacqJ5gcMloDrEeKtYcCOKIdpeijQCPcB/s320/20161027_113816.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">My Chariot</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9BvSRyJFJNU/WBIKaVRC4YI/AAAAAAAADWM/tGc1yhqaMsAiTaxwcwV3ge98opATDm8TQCPcB/s1600/20161027_142340.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9BvSRyJFJNU/WBIKaVRC4YI/AAAAAAAADWM/tGc1yhqaMsAiTaxwcwV3ge98opATDm8TQCPcB/s320/20161027_142340.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye. Have a Meethi Diwali</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hope you liked the glimpses in a nutshell.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I shall cover this travel extravaganza in a wider perspective and much detail next time but I am almost dead after this day long journey. See you all tomorrow.&nbsp;</span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-5181690585256984192016-10-25T22:03:00.002-07:002016-10-25T22:03:36.380-07:00Day 26. Wordless Wednesday - 11<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For this week's photo prompt, I chose this picture which I clicked sometime back in a party. This one amused me as well as made me smile. What do you think about it? Please send some quirky captions/ titles for this one.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-skA_BOhiXpE/Vc4YIIcSPYI/AAAAAAAABcU/RJM43FKsXJE3N-dl4SfM2pb-dZ4nfN-iACPcB/s1600/IMG_6640.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-skA_BOhiXpE/Vc4YIIcSPYI/AAAAAAAABcU/RJM43FKsXJE3N-dl4SfM2pb-dZ4nfN-iACPcB/s400/IMG_6640.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For last week's photo prompt which was this,</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NMSh1Locu24/WAcY96zG55I/AAAAAAAADTM/y97igAiBzAUfmmf8EpHYk1kyWoK6RApFwCPcB/s1600/IMG_8518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NMSh1Locu24/WAcY96zG55I/AAAAAAAADTM/y97igAiBzAUfmmf8EpHYk1kyWoK6RApFwCPcB/s320/IMG_8518.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is what you said,</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Smita: Perfection cloned&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Katherine: No poke go</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Linking this post to Wordless Wednesday.</span></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-27317460445603445852016-10-25T08:37:00.000-07:002016-10-25T08:37:10.764-07:00Day 25. Terribly Tiny Tales - 01<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Starting the Terribly Tiny Tales series. Hope you like them. If you like them please drop in a comment.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLVVIIajlhI/WA97u7qUrCI/AAAAAAAADVQ/VFUmqsDZEZwdBOzvf-RxGFUyUtxAbdN1gCLcB/s1600/TTT%2Bslide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLVVIIajlhI/WA97u7qUrCI/AAAAAAAADVQ/VFUmqsDZEZwdBOzvf-RxGFUyUtxAbdN1gCLcB/s640/TTT%2Bslide.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#Infidelity, #Terriblytinytales</span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-47685244777502063362016-10-24T09:23:00.002-07:002016-10-24T10:28:41.391-07:00Day 24. Be A Guiding Light To Your Little Sunshine.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: left;">Hello</span>&nbsp;friends. It’s already day 24 of the Blog Marathon month and I feel time is slipping out of my hands at a very fast pace. I was thinking about what to write today and I realized that this month I have not written anything about my world around my kids. My core inner compass of life. I am sure most of us have a long list of Do’s and Don’ts for our kids and also a self designed paradigm for them. The list might be different for all of us but I know for sure that there will be quite a lot of bullet points common in every list. And one of those is inculcating habit of reading at an early age. For me also, it is one of the key habits I want my kids to pick up. While we were kids, our parents made it a point to get us some of the famous children books and magazines of that time, including inspirational true stories of some of the greatest legends. Reading books was part of the afternoon ritual for me and my brother. It was an integral part of my life but somewhere I lost track only to get back around 15 years ago. Although I do read a lot but I have a very strong feeling of loss that I have missed on some precious time in my life. Every age has its own reading preferences and now I can’t go back in yesteryears and clear my backlog. And for my kids I don’t want them to go through this. I wish they pick up reading and enjoy it too because then only it will be embedded in them. So how do we do it?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Well if you or your spouse already have a habit of reading then this is where the first stepping stone lies. Children brought up in book laden houses are more likely to pick up reading naturally. But even if you are not one of those reading types, you can start by reading bed time stories to your kids. World of books is certainly magical but to start with, it has to fascinate our little sunshines. So get them colourful story books and read to them every day. Take tiny steps to establish a connection between books and your kids. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If you can have a reading hour in the house, then nothing like it. If you are not into reading then you can pick up newspaper or any magazine of your choice but try to get that atmosphere into the house where this habit can breathe and grow.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cut down on the TV hours, both for yourself and kids and invest this time into reading. For me this comes easily because I am a total no TV person and have managed restricting television gazing time for my kids also. Sorry no offence but please get off your own habit of being a slave to the daily soaps. They drag you to this time killer even if you don’t want to.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Once in a while arrange a story reading session for the kids and their friends. Don’t worry. We are not professionals but we can try and practice to put up a show in the larger interest of our kiddos. But if you are still vary of this idea; you can take your kids to some story telling sessions in the city. These days it is a regular feature in big cities. If this also doesn’t work then you can discuss with other parents and organize it collectively.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Be a regular visitor to book fares and exhibitions. The world of books is self alluring. You have to just take an initiative. But don’t force kids to pick up books of your choice. Let them read what they want to in initial years to build a connection. Once the bond is strong you can guide them into reading good literature and classics. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There can be endless and innovative ways of doing it but these are the few tested and tried by me. I feel blessed that gradually I have been able to achieve this feat in my elder one who now reads on his own and bed time reading is a ritual with him. I am so overwhelmed on days when we have a rather long and tiring day and even when I insist him to sleep, he tells me, ‘mama can I read just one page’. Believe me there is no bigger happiness than seeing your kids moving ahead in life and on the path you have shown them. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So as I sign off for the day, I wish all the parents reading this post very best for this venture. Be a guiding light to your little sunshine. Believe me; time here is worth an investment. And also if you have some more valuable tips to add, I will be glad to hear.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Let me share my happiness with you as I received my copy of ‘Inner Engineering, A Yogi’s Guide To Joy’ by Sadhguru today.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xHbjPQf1lr8/WA4z3TfWzEI/AAAAAAAADVA/TALhyNs4aMQFUuUeq_kUH-rxcZudfhQwACLcB/s1600/20161024_194625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xHbjPQf1lr8/WA4z3TfWzEI/AAAAAAAADVA/TALhyNs4aMQFUuUeq_kUH-rxcZudfhQwACLcB/s320/20161024_194625.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was a long wait of one month since I ordered this one and can’t wait to start reading it. Probably immediately after I post this blog. Cheers to that :)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And I will see you tomorrow. Good Night.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br /></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-28954000222089626072016-10-23T09:57:00.002-07:002016-10-23T11:45:04.947-07:00Day 23. Happy Blogiversary Preeti Shenoy.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hi friends. Hope you had a great weekend. Well for me the weekend fever starts only sat eve as both me and my kids are working even on Saturdays. And Sundays are definitely fun days. But for today it was a mix of work and play as my kids start writing their exams tomorrow plus we went out for a long awaited kid’s fun zone date followed by dinner. So back home after I tuck them to bed, here I am reporting for my Blog Marathon commitment.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">October 23. The date is special to me. Not related directly though but this is when my blogging ideal, favourite author and person, Preeti Shenoy started her journey into this blogging world. Hers was the first blog I read and got addicted to the extent that I would start my day checking her portal for any new post. She inspired me through her writing. I related to her posts and every time I would read her posts, there would be a desire to start my own blog. And after being a regular visitor at her portal for about three months, I stepped into this world of blogging in 2011. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Today Preeti Shenoy is celebrating her 10 years of stepping into this world of blogging and I dedicate my 23<sup>rd</sup> day post of this blog marathon to her. Cheers for completing these amazing 10 years Preeti and here’s wishing you all the very best for another many decades of successful but more importantly good writing and a wonderful life, with your family and friends. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I think it is important to have an ideal in life. Someone, who you can look up to. Who inspires and drives you to proceed in a positive direction in life. If you are a passionate person, you will always want to succeed and be an achiever. Having an ideal or role model helps you in your flight. When I was aspiring to be an army officer, my motivation was Kiran Bedi and till date, she is one iron lady I admire. And when I was looking for a second innings in life, I happened to discover Preeti Shenoy. What makes her a sensation all over the country is her openness to life, her charismatic persona, the way she allows a sneak peak into her life as a journey. If you follow her blog, you will get a feel of togetherness. I guess here the kudos goes to the growing wings of social media as well. But she has touched many lives through her blog and her writing. And I am certainly one of them. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you wish to check out her blog, here’s the link<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://blog.preetishenoy.com/">http://blog.preetishenoy.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I wish if I could give a link to my favourite posts from her blog but the list is endless. So take your time and explore her world. It’s always good to know a pleasing personality like her. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">See ya tomorrow. Till then sleep tight and don’t let bed bugs bite. ;)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">#PreetiShenoy , #10YearsOfBlogging</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-86358768918970890812016-10-22T11:04:00.001-07:002016-10-22T11:51:30.775-07:00Day 22. The Song of Lost Love.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bh9YYuooHM8/WAup6C9LpQI/AAAAAAAADUk/CVLUy7NKblYW_KNXbdRCzRTQ4VSx3efCQCLcB/s1600/images%2B%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bh9YYuooHM8/WAup6C9LpQI/AAAAAAAADUk/CVLUy7NKblYW_KNXbdRCzRTQ4VSx3efCQCLcB/s1600/images%2B%25283%2529.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When the love lived in the lanes across<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was a window where the sun shone with all its gloss<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I watched it rise and saw its fall<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the land of windmills where the winds ragingly blew <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the softest lips his warmth grew<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Her hairs fell long on his shoulders so strong <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And the rainbows danced in their love song<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The heavens sang with all might and bloom<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She was women so worthy and he, the most desirable groom<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Love was not all, each other they breathed<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was a fire within. It led and it sheathed<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Their love was free. Full of smiles and no tears<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The times were all good without any fear<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Their flight was high, <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes it made her sigh<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But the ecstasy was maddening and far coming was a low tide<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t go so far, she only tried<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There were days and there were nights<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He went alone in the search of brighter lights<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They shined in a different world <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And to a weaker tier they furled<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fascinated he went, to the fate he never knew<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And &nbsp;the night fury engulfed, near as he drew<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He looked at the shore but the darkness echoed back<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Delirious in the moment he shunned her and wished a new life<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Could not live with her but couldn’t even give her up<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Entranced by the night fury he only burned up<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She waited, she cried<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The voices unheard always died<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The emptiness within she wanted to fill<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But the void made her numb and pushed down to kill<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In that moment she rose to forget but not forgive<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Made way to her pinnacle destined and reason to live<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There were deeper truths unraveled<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the happiness sought outside was found within unparalleled<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She rose like a star which lighted the world around<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He called it vicious and in that hatred he drowned</span><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; text-align: left;">&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What a love it was that got lost<o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She found herself at his cost<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-64860419031058921592016-10-21T06:29:00.000-07:002016-10-22T11:04:46.367-07:00Day 21. A Doodle Mandala.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">So here I am with my second attempt at doodling, this time a mandala. This is some labour of patience primarily and love of course. At so many stages I felt like giving up when I felt it is not perfect and also when my fingers ached like hell. But I pushed myself completing it. So how do you feel it has come up? Though still not perfect but please do drop in some words of encouragement if you like it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i14LeIteqkg/WAoXvryTFsI/AAAAAAAADUQ/KQxSaIr3jg4mkIpsUmX9g0_VNdrzrs7vACLcB/s1600/20161021_184315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i14LeIteqkg/WAoXvryTFsI/AAAAAAAADUQ/KQxSaIr3jg4mkIpsUmX9g0_VNdrzrs7vACLcB/s400/20161021_184315.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-14898580747382334592016-10-20T08:24:00.000-07:002016-10-20T08:46:52.870-07:00Day 20. It's All In The Planets by Preeti Shenoy - Book Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">&nbsp;<span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Destiny has been approached differently by various school of thoughts. For some,</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5wZJbjBhjOg/WAjR5QIMMnI/AAAAAAAADTY/AWJuuw-ClqUTDNGO4gkhkb9kTLuODk9jgCLcB/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5wZJbjBhjOg/WAjR5QIMMnI/AAAAAAAADTY/AWJuuw-ClqUTDNGO4gkhkb9kTLuODk9jgCLcB/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And for others</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DTxvVVIzyek/WAjSGIhZcVI/AAAAAAAADTc/PBQVOgGvstIwYzU-2Q8MgTQI9PVv-IgFACLcB/s1600/quote%2Bdestiny_thumb%255B2%255D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DTxvVVIzyek/WAjSGIhZcVI/AAAAAAAADTc/PBQVOgGvstIwYzU-2Q8MgTQI9PVv-IgFACLcB/s400/quote%2Bdestiny_thumb%255B2%255D.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Well whatever your take on destiny and love might be, the way this subject is served in the latest novel by Preeti Shenoy, it is full of twists and turns, which are at times expected and yes there are moments when they completely take you by surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I read my first Preeti Shenoy book, ‘Life’s what you make it’, I immediately fell for the compelling story telling which keeps you hooked on to the book till you finish the last page. And once again the author has achieved creating the similar magic with her latest book, ‘It’s all in the planets’.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MCQm4yvIUZk/WAjWF43cBFI/AAAAAAAADTo/q3r8RDxyBDwE6MMZJ81a_OmbKV3mJoD2wCLcB/s1600/Book%2Bcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MCQm4yvIUZk/WAjWF43cBFI/AAAAAAAADTo/q3r8RDxyBDwE6MMZJ81a_OmbKV3mJoD2wCLcB/s640/Book%2Bcover.jpg" width="420" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Blurb<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Meet Aniket. Twenty-seven, techie, Mr. Average. His best friend is Subbu, a nerd who breathes, thinks and lives code. Aniket cannot believe his luck when he starts dating Trish – a stunning, sexy model, who is totally out of his league. But Trish has a list of things she wants him to work on, beginning with his pot belly and his geekiness.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then there’s Nidhi, thirty-two, who has quit her corporate job to follow her passion. She is engaged to Manoj, Mr. Perfect – except for one aspect.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Aniket and Nidhi meet on a train, a chance encounter and she agrees to become his ‘relationship coach’. It’s a decision that sets into motion a chain of events that will have a profound impact on the lives of all involved.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One man, two women and the trap called Destiny.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Some things, they say, are all in the planets.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Writing Style and Presentation<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I might be biased here because am an ardent Preeti Shenoy fan. While I am more of literary fiction buff, she continues to intrigue me through her writing and charismatic personality. But as I chose to write a review of her book, I will try my best to act like a critic.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To begin with, the blurb provided by the author, aptly summarizes the book in those few paragraphs. We know what is going to happen in the book, right from the word ‘Go’ but the journey is about knowing how it is going to happen. And full credit here goes to the author for making it an adventurous journey. The pace of the book is fast as other books of Preeti Shenoy but I loved the way she has infused a blogger’s perspective in between. Those little musings in between which give an introspected view of love as a form of indelible human emotion give us a breather from the action packed sequences. The writing and language is simple which is why her book reaches out to the common man and establishes connect instantly. The characters are from our everyday life and the situations also which lead their lives which is why we relate to them easily. Dealing with complex human emotions in today’s life can be called author’s forte but I feel there is a need for a change now. Having read her few novels, I feel an urgency to evolve now. For this book, the set up is interesting and the subject of modern day relationship has been explored well. The climax of the book which changed the entire course of the book was quite quite unexpected and can be called the highlight of the book.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Overall the book is a quick one day read. It delights the Preeti Shenoy fans but does a mediocre job on literary front. And I feel the author needs to reinvent her plot and writing style in her next book.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Characters<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Amongst the characters, Nidhi was my favourite and could relate to her as she is a blogger, writer and artist. I feel she was the life of the novel which kept me bounded to the book. I wanted to read more and more from her blog which was almost like reading some post from the author’s blog itself. She was like the breath of fresh air in between when the book looked monotonous.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Other main characters, Aniket and Trisha have been well formulated and look real. The supporting cast has also been chosen with care and teams up well to take the book towards its own destiny.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rating<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I would rate the book as 3.5 out of 5. An interesting book but the author could have done better.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-90012809589551320982016-10-19T00:02:00.002-07:002016-10-19T00:15:29.126-07:00Day 19. Wordless Wednesday - 10<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hello friends. It is Wednesday again. Time to go wordless for me and hear from you. Here is another photo prompt waiting for your titles and captions.&nbsp;</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NMSh1Locu24/WAcY96zG55I/AAAAAAAADTE/U-rxVXXRVeETbs2uK14aQoI0V6gKJVdWACLcB/s1600/IMG_8518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NMSh1Locu24/WAcY96zG55I/AAAAAAAADTE/U-rxVXXRVeETbs2uK14aQoI0V6gKJVdWACLcB/s640/IMG_8518.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The post from last Wednesday saw some interesting participation.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-14dF1nL_jpI/V_30aJKSMUI/AAAAAAAADPY/GmkaW6HHxqEoxpO23arCyc2M8Z4ceUcAgCPcB/s1600/IMG_8401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-14dF1nL_jpI/V_30aJKSMUI/AAAAAAAADPY/GmkaW6HHxqEoxpO23arCyc2M8Z4ceUcAgCPcB/s320/IMG_8401.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />&nbsp;<span style="font-size: large;">Here's what you all said.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Amrita: &nbsp;Destroyer of Evil</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Tanushree : &nbsp;Divinity</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Nitu : Enlightened</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Sheetal : The light within</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thank you friends for being a part of my web space and my creative pursuits. Love you all. Have a great day ahead.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Linking this post to Wordless Wednesday.</span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-85469156677332302472016-10-18T08:47:00.001-07:002016-10-18T09:21:58.918-07:00Day 18. Few short long tales. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Still exploring the one sentence, two sentence fiction/musings, here are some more. Short and crisp, somewhat bitter somewhat sweet they might delight or leave you thinking. Please share how you feel. It is valuable indeed. Does this also rhyme … :)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sadness and madness in their extreme are vary of each other. Which one defines you?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To me, the both.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There are days I feel like singing but the tunes&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">are too melodious to be accepted.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Do I bother?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He writes to her more often these days.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Reassuring his presence to himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dismissing all around including herself,&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">she immerses within to build herself yet again,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">&nbsp;step by step, brick by brick.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Will she be stronger now?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She was the most desirable but&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">brought no pleasure to who possessed her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">#Short #Tales</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">#Terribly #Tiny #Tales</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you like these short tales please share. Sharing is caring. And also please drop in your feedback. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-3785648807116708672016-10-17T08:42:00.000-07:002016-10-17T08:42:12.210-07:00Day 17. Infidelity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Exploring the genre of two sentence story on the seventeenth&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">day of the Blog Marathon, was actually a fretting experience&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">as while telling a story, it is so difficult to be brief. I have&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">attempted five sentence stories as the shortest storytelling&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">exercise. So as it is my first time, need your love and&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">feedback on this.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jXIbcowUpqQ/WATxH22l3cI/AAAAAAAADSo/uOrzI2JcRO03WYBd2V0Eo_iH5kpOr1S9QCLcB/s1600/images%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jXIbcowUpqQ/WATxH22l3cI/AAAAAAAADSo/uOrzI2JcRO03WYBd2V0Eo_iH5kpOr1S9QCLcB/s1600/images%2B%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The two phones were busy and in a moment she knew the&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">calls were interconnected. She smiled and dialed her own&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">private number.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#Infidelity</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-86131391120800462442016-10-16T05:43:00.001-07:002016-10-16T05:43:47.520-07:00Day 16. Dear, 16 Year Old Me<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3gBE9rEfH1w/WAN19WJigMI/AAAAAAAADSY/YWlhXYU-rZcA8Uah5pGfaRQuTFPLokrGgCLcB/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3gBE9rEfH1w/WAN19WJigMI/AAAAAAAADSY/YWlhXYU-rZcA8Uah5pGfaRQuTFPLokrGgCLcB/s400/images.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dear, 16 Year Old Me,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Heartiest Congratulations on entering the most beautiful of all the teens. Sweet sixteen as everyone calls it; it has just knocked at your door. While every moment of life has its own charm and is full of happiness if you really want it to be, this newly acquired tiara will make you feel like a princess in true spirits. Be a dreamer and live up to your dreams, be the fearless warrior to fight your fortune and remember the golden rules of life which I have learnt in these thirty seven years of amazing journey. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">1.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Every phase of life is beautiful and comes with its own enamor, which never gets back to you again. So live life to the fullest. There is an amazing vibrance which comes in this phase. Feel it and enjoy bathing in the glory of its splendidness.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">2.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 115%;">You are a dreamer. Dream big, don’t hesitate. Dream, desire, ask. For these are the ways you can make the universe listen to your wishes. Initiate a wish and act in the direction of your dream, so that universe can grant you and open the doors of synchronicity flying open to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">3.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Be happy and count on your blessings. Show your gratitude for all you have. When you thank the universe for all you have, you are granted more and more of it. So the key to have your urn always full with his blessings is, be grateful and happy for all you have.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">4. I know you have many passions in life. You may feel that you are not getting enough time and space to pursue all of them but believe me, an entire life is there in front of you and learning is not restricted to any age. You must keep learning all your life and never give up on any passion of yours. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 115%;">You are the creator of your own life. You can write the story of your life as you want it to be. Experience that greatness within and the amazing creative energy that God, the supreme creator has gifted to us. All you need is the understanding of how to channelize that energy in the right direction. Have role models and read about their life. Let their life be your guiding light.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">6.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 115%;">Keep the inner compass of life intact and choose them well. The people who are close to you, which can be family or friends. The friends you make now will be your companion for life so they have to compliment and support you well. But life is not only about gaining from others. You have to be for the people who form part of your inner compass. Life long relationships need nurturing, sincerity and lots of selfless love. If you will give, then only you will receive the unconditional love.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">7.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 115%;">Attitude for life is what defines us. Have a positive attitude. It will pull you out of every challenging situation in life. There will be trying situations which will remain same for everyone. What will make it different is how to take on them. You will come out victorious only if you have a positive attitude.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">8.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 115%;">Do not suppress your emotions. Express without any inhibition. Live, love and laugh. Be in the moment as you want to be. For once it passes; the clock can never be reversed. Life looks beautiful and all rosy in your age, enjoy the splendor.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Do not be afraid of making mistakes. You learn while making mistakes, so just live life and live it to the fullest so that you have no regrets later. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Lovingly Yours<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Calligraphy&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Andalus; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Not so old friend<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot;, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">‘This post is a part of&nbsp;<a href="http://blog.blogadda.com/category/write-over-the-weekend-wow" style="color: #b85b5a; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Write Over the Weekend">Write Over the Weekend</a>, an initiative for&nbsp;<a href="http://www.blogadda.com/" style="color: #b85b5a; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Indian Bloggers">Indian Bloggers</a>&nbsp;by BlogAdda.’</strong></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot;, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">This week’s WOW prompt is:&nbsp;</span><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot;, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">“Dear, 16 Year Old Me”</strong></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938810725173055913.post-81150259643724657612016-10-15T05:01:00.002-07:002016-10-15T05:01:50.485-07:00Day 15. I Too Have a Song Deep Within<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SVK4BDpOgqg/WAIafMqnEtI/AAAAAAAADSI/9JO8SPDZc9UiQbxNsS6uT7i4SCqUXTTRACLcB/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SVK4BDpOgqg/WAIafMqnEtI/AAAAAAAADSI/9JO8SPDZc9UiQbxNsS6uT7i4SCqUXTTRACLcB/s400/download.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Up there on the western hills<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Where the snow still sits clean<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There are birds who don’t fly<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But there are flowers evergreen<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Wind blows from the hills yellowed<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And brings down the memories pristine<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Of the times when even the bars echoed<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And I too had a song deep within<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It seems I have forgotten the rhythm<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Of the songs so sweet<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And now there are symphonies unknown<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And the songs of freedom offbeat<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Each moment of the day when I feel my destiny<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I dream of you to pull me through<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But you decide to leave me with my feet clipped<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And climb to the lips of the nightingale so blue<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I look down and then around<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">O my caged self, the war must now begin<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">For there is a whole new world here right now<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And you too have a song deep within<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Do not think of yet another breeze to take you away<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">For it might also hang on another sill<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Hear it from the hill so far <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But trust the sounds within<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Lift up your arms and feel the rage <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Which has the power to break each cage<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Fly high before the snow is still sitting clean<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And bath in the glory of the yellow sheen<o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>Upma Panthttps://plus.google.com/112400611580286084701noreply@blogger.com1